In recent Vocaloid news, a P known as matt9five appeared on the Vocaran with the song “Circus Monster,” shown below. This was quite a surprise and an achievement to the English-speaking Vocaloid community. I recently had the pleasure to sit down and message matt9five, who prefers to be called DoofusP. DoofusP has been a Vocaloid contributor on Youtube for many years in almost all aspects, from covers to original music to Miku Miku Dance creations and back again. Most recently, his original creation “Circus Monster” breached the Weekly Vocaran, reaching 110th place in Week 169, 14th in 170, and 31st in 171. His exclusive interview with Vocaloidism regarding his experience in this groundbreaking event is after the break.

Red2: First off, thank you for the interview.

Doof: Anytime.

Red2: Jumping right in, how did you discover Vocaloid at first, and what is your main passion with the encompassing fandom?

Doof: Hmm, I think I discovered Vocaloid from a fanmade video of Miku singing and dancing to the “Hare Hare Yukai” from The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya. I wondered who Miku was, and did a little google-ing and found out about the Vocaloid program! I pretty much thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw, because I never heard of a “virtual idol” before. The best part about it, I think, is the way Vocaloid is completely user-based. There is nothing official, no limitations at all. Vocaloid can be whomever, or whatever you want it to be!

Red2: You’ve done a lot with Vocaloid. MMD, Covers of English songs, and of course original works. For those who haven’t gone through your Youtube page, what are the must-sees in each category?

Doof: Ah, yeah haha. My uploads are kinda all over the place… I think for an English cover song, Luka’s cover of “Firework” by Katy Perry is my current best. Even if I did get a lot of the lyrics wrong, haha.

But overall I think my best cover is actually a Japanese cover! It’s my Miku cover of “Precog” from iDOLM@STER! I don’t know why, but I feel like I did a really good job! Although I don’t do much MMD, I think my favorite video of mine is Miku’s “Who are you?” which is based off of Portal. I made it in hype of Portal 2, which I am still extremely excited for, haha. But I think a big “Must See” for my originals is “Finale.” It’s one of my shortest and simplest songs, but It’s one of the few songs that I’ve written where I am completely satisfied with the lyrics, haha.

Red2: And what Vocaloids / UTAU / Vocaloid-related products do you own and use regularly?

Doof: I own quite a few Vocaloids, actually. Although I only really use Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka, SONiKA, and SF-A2 ‘miki’ regularly. I really like their vocal styles, and I think they are all really easy to work with!

Red2: That’s quite a lot.

Doof: Haha, yeah~

Red2: Let’s talk about “Circus Monster.” I noticed that the green-horned Luka is a recurring theme in most of your work. Can you tell us about this canon you’ve created?

Doof: Ah, the green horned Luka! Well, the reason she’s a horned monster thing is because of something that’s pretty important to the storyline of “Circus Monster.” At the circus where Luka performs, Songstresses have to go through a sort of “Re-Birthing” process. If this process fails, they slowly turn into a Monster overtime, however this can be removed if they re-attempt the process. If it fails again though, they become a Monster forever, cursed to die and be reborn for the rest of eternity. And such is Luka’s case! All the songs where Luka seems to “die” at the end are past lives of hers, that’s why there are so many songs of mine where she has the horns!

Red2: That’s some pretty heavy stuff. What was your main inspiration in creating “Circus Monster” specifically?

Doof: Hmm…I’m not sure I had an inspiration for Circus Monster specifically. But I was aiming towards making a song that would hopefully make people think. I noticed that there weren’t many “Deep” songs in the English Vocaloid community, either that or I just haven’t heard many of them yet, haha. Although, “Circus Monster” was more of a practice song for me. It’s not as deep or thought-provoking as I wanted it to be…

Red2: What was the initial response to the video when it was posted on Youtube, and how did it contrast to the Nico Nico Douga response?

Doof: Yeah, there was quite a contrast between the two. On Youtube it got quite a few views and comments right from the start! Although, on Nico, it got barely any views. After like a month or three it still only had around 400 views or something. Which was like a fraction of what it had on Youtube at the time, haha.

Red2: Which did you hear about first, Fukawa’s cover or the 14th place Vocaran?

Doof: I heard Fukawa’s cover first, actually. I thought it was awesome! I was so honored that he covered it~

Red2: You must’ve been excited. When did you hear about the Vocaran, and how’d you find out?

Doof: Haha, yes, very excited! I first heard about it from a bunch of comments I got going “WOO GOOD JOB YOU GOT ON VOCARAN!” So I had to go check it out to see what people were talking about! and when I saw it, I was shocked at how high it got! I expected it to be around #30 or something, or to not really be on the Vocaran at all, haha.

Red2: Well the week before it hit #110. Then it jumped to #14. And last week it just missed by 1 place, hitting #31. What do you expect for “Circus Monster” in the next few weeks? Do you expect more covers?

Doof: Hmm, I actually don’t expect much from “Circus Monster.” after this. I’m pretty sure that it will be forgotten within a week, maybe a few days even. I would enjoy more covers, but I don’t really think that’ll happen, haha.

Doof: What do I think will happen with the J-Version? Well, I think it’s gotten somewhat popular with the overseas fans, so I think the some more covers may occur on Youtube. Although, I don’t think it’s going to get very popular on Nico, sadly. I think both sides prefer the song when they can’t understand the words themselves, but they still get the meaning of it. I can’t blame them, haha.

Red2: Do you plan on releasing more of the series? To NND?

Doof: Definitely! Although, probably not soon. I want to practice writing songs more before I continue the series. I want to be proud of my lyrics, instead of cringing every time I hear them, haha.

Red2: Well it’s worked so far with Circus Monster. What are your future plans with Vocaloid, now that you’ve made it on the countdown? Are you going to jockey for the top spot? Put together a CD? Anything like that?

Doof: Hmm…I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do next, other than keep on practicing of course. Once I get more confident with my work, I may aim for the top, but until then that’s just a dream. I do plan on releasing a CD of the entire “Circus Monster” series once it’s done, though! But I think my “Random-Inanimate-Objects-Coming-To-Life-And-Creeping-You-Out” CD is closer to release, haha.

Red2: Will you start learning Japanese?

Doof: I have considered it, but probably not. If I ever do, it’ll be after I get the hang of Spanish. Which will probably never happen, haha.

Red2: Thank you for taking time out to talk with us. I know I’ve been quite enlightened. Is there anything you’d like to say to the Vocaloid community, be it your fans, potential producers, or in general?

Doof: It was my pleasure! Hmm…I’m not exactly sure what to say, haha. I guess, whatever it is you do, whether it’s Vocaloid, UTAU, MMD, or some other program, be sure to at least have fun with it! You don’t want to be stuck doing something you don’t like!

There you have it. This was Vocaloidism’s exclusive interview with DoofusP, who broke into the Vocaran rankings last month. I encourage everyone that, if they have additional questions, to leave them in the comments below. I’ve encouraged DoofusP to visit this article to answer them.

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8 thoughts on “An Interview with DoofusP”

I've been waiting for you to release this! Its an awesome interview and I love his outlook. Good questions. Really exciting to have a western producer break into the Vocaran. Hopefully there will be others in the future and perhaps other talented, aspiring electronic/computer musicians abroad will take this as encouragement if they have ever considered using Vocaloid. Similarly I hope this helps to show again the growing passion of overseas fans and how it can encourage people like Doofus to pursue Vocaloid and have success with it. Many congrats to him and many thanks to you for the interview.

This is nice insight on Doofus-P. I've always been an avid listening since he is quite another heavy presence in the English Vocaloid Community, who probably produces the most popular amateur works.

For a while I thought he was much younger than he says since almost all his videos, despite sounding decent, would always accompany a "shot" or something self disciplining like "it sucks", but it's probably the whole "artist" thing since he is a budding "P".

Ooh, nice interview! Congrats to Red2 for a job well done, and thanks to Doofus-P for giving the interview!

Just a little question: now that you have made it into the VocaRan, do you feel more pressure as to the reception of your upcoming songs? Or is it more an "alright, VocaRan = done, now I can die in peace" kind of thing?